Obfuscation of email addresses

ABSTRACT

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed for facilitating two-way email communication in manner that obfuscates sender and recipient email addresses. The method includes receiving a correspondence request indication; assigning a first transaction address to a sender and a second transaction address to a recipient; receiving a message from the sender; associating the message from the sender with the first transaction address; and causing a transmission of the message from the sender to the recipient using the first transaction address. A corresponding apparatus and computer program product are also provided.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Example embodiments of the present invention relate generally to emailand, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for email addressobfuscation between senders and recipients.

BACKGROUND

Applicant has discovered problems with existing methods and systems foremail communications. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation,Applicant has solved many of these identified problems by developing asolution that is embodied by the present invention and described indetail below.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Accordingly, a method, apparatus, and computer program product areprovided for generating a promotion in an augmented reality. In anexample embodiment a method is provided including receiving acorrespondence request indication; assigning a first transaction addressto a sender and a second transaction address to a recipient; receiving amessage from the sender; associating the message from the sender withthe first transaction address; and causing a transmission of the messageto the recipient using the first transaction address.

In an example embodiment, the method also includes receiving a recipientmessage from the recipient; associating the recipient message with thesecond transactional address; and causing a transmission of therecipient message to the sender using the second transaction address. Inan example embodiment in which the message from the sender is associatedwith the second transaction address, the method also includesassociating the message with the recipient address; and causing thetransmission of the message from the sender to the recipient includesusing the recipient address. In an example embodiment in which therecipient message is associated with the with the first transactionaddress, the method also includes associating the recipient message withthe sender address; and causing the transmission of the recipientmessage to the sender further comprises using the sender address.

In an example embodiment of the method, the first and second transactionaddresses are associated with a transaction. In an example embodiment ofthe method, the first and second transaction addresses are valid for atransaction period. In an example embodiment of the method, thetransaction period is terminated in response to completion of atransaction. In an example embodiment of the method, the transactionperiod is a predetermined period of time associated with thetransaction.

In an example embodiment in which the assigning the first transactionaddress to the sender and the second transaction address to therecipient also includes: generating each of the first and secondtransaction addresses by encoding a sender email address and a recipientemail address with at least one of a transaction identifier, a consumeridentifier, a provider identifier, a date/time identifier, and anaccount identifier. In an example embodiment of the method, the encodingcomprises hashing.

In an example embodiment an apparatus is provided including at least oneprocessor and at least one memory including computer program code, theat least one memory and computer program code configured to, with theprocessor, cause the apparatus to at least: receive a correspondencerequest indication; assign a first transaction address to a sender and asecond transaction address to a recipient; receive a message from thesender; associate the message from the sender with the first transactionaddress; and cause a transmission of the message to the recipient usingthe first transaction address.

The at least one memory and computer program code may be furtherconfigured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus of an exampleembodiment to receive a recipient message from the recipient; associatethe recipient message with the second transactional address; and cause atransmission of the recipient message to the sender using the secondtransaction address. In an example embodiment the message from thesender is associated with the second transaction address, the at leastone memory and the computer program code may be further configured to,with the processor, cause the apparatus to associate the message withthe recipient address; and causing the transmission of the message fromthe sender to the recipient further comprises using the recipientaddress. In an example embodiment in which the recipient message isassociated with the with the first transaction address, the at least onememory and the computer program code may be further configured to, withthe processor, cause the apparatus to associate the recipient messagewith the sender address; and causing the transmission of the recipientmessage to the sender further comprises using the sender address.

In an example embodiment of the apparatus, the first and secondtransaction addresses are associated with a transaction. In an exampleembodiment of the apparatus, the first and second transaction addressesare valid for a transaction period. In an example embodiment of theapparatus, the transaction period is terminated in response tocompletion of a transaction. In some example embodiments of theapparatus, the transaction period is a predetermined period of timeassociated with the transaction.

In an example embodiment of the apparatus, assigning the firsttransaction address to the sender and the second transaction address tothe recipient also includes generating each of the first and secondtransaction addresses by encoding a sender email address and a recipientemail address with at least one of a transaction identifier, a consumeridentifier, a provider identifier, a date/time identifier, and anaccount identifier. In some example embodiments of the apparatus, theencoding comprises hashing.

In a further example embodiment, a computer program product is providedincluding at least one non-transitory computer readable storage mediumhaving computer executable code portions stored therein, thecomputer-executable program code portions comprising program codeinstructions configured to receive a correspondence request indication;assign a first transaction address to a sender and a second transactionaddress to a recipient; receive a message from the sender; associate themessage from the sender with the first transaction address; and cause atransmission of the message to the recipient using the first transactionaddress.

In an example embodiment the computer-executable program code portionsof may include program code instructions to receive a recipient messagefrom the recipient; associate the recipient message with the secondtransactional address; and cause a transmission of the recipient messageto the sender using the second transaction address.

In an example embodiment in which the message from the sender isassociated with the second transaction address, the computer-executableprogram code portions of the computer program product may includeprogram code instructions to associate the message with the recipientaddress; and causing the transmission of the message from the sender tothe recipient further comprises using the recipient address. In anexample embodiment in which the recipient message is associated with thewith the first transaction address, the computer-executable program codeportions of the computer program product may include program codeinstructions to associate the recipient message with the sender address;and causing the transmission of the recipient message to the senderfurther comprises using the sender address.

In an example embodiment of the computer program product, the first andsecond transaction addresses are associated with a transaction. In anexample embodiment of the computer program product, the first and secondtransaction addresses are valid for a transaction period. In an exampleembodiment of the computer program product, the transaction period isterminated in response to completion of a transaction. In an exampleembodiment of the computer program product, the transaction period is apredetermined period of time associated with the transaction.

In an example embodiment of the computer program product assigning thefirst transaction address to the sender and the second transactionaddress to the recipient also includes generating each of the first andsecond transaction addresses by encoding a sender email address and arecipient email address with at least one of a transaction identifier, aconsumer identifier, a provider identifier, a date/time identifier, andan account identifier. In an example embodiment of the computer programproduct, the encoding comprises hashing.

In yet another example embodiment, an apparatus is provided thatincludes means for receiving a correspondence request indication; meansfor assigning a first transaction address to a sender and a secondtransaction address to a recipient; means for receiving a message fromthe sender; means for associating the message from the sender with thefirst transaction address; and means for causing a transmission of themessage to the recipient using the first transaction address.

The above summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing someexample embodiments to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe invention. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that theabove-described embodiments are merely examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the invention in any way. Itwill be appreciated that the scope of the invention encompasses manypotential embodiments in addition to those here summarized, some ofwhich will be further described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described certain example embodiments of the presentdisclosure in general terms, reference will now be made to theaccompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, andwherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example data flow path for obfuscating emailaddresses in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates block diagram of an apparatus that may bespecifically configured for obfuscation of email addresses in accordancewith an example embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates example data flows from a sender or recipient messageapplication to a host in accordance with some example embodiments of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates example data flow paths from a sender messageapplication to a recipient message application in accordance with someexample embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow chart of an example process for obfuscation ofemail addresses in accordance with an example embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information,” and similarterms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of beingtransmitted, received, and/or stored in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention. Thus, use of any such terms should not be takento limit the spirit and scope of embodiments of the present invention.Further, where a computing device is described herein to receive datafrom another computing device, it will be appreciated that the data maybe received directly from the another computing device or may bereceived indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, suchas, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network accesspoints, base stations, hosts, and/or the like, sometimes referred toherein as a “network.” Similarly, where a computing device is describedherein to send data to another computing device, it will be appreciatedthat the data may be sent directly to the another computing device ormay be sent indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices,such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, networkaccess points, base stations, hosts, and/or the like.

As used herein, the term “promotion and marketing service” may include aservice that is accessible via one or more computing devices and isoperable to provide example promotion and/or marketing services onbehalf of one or more providers that are offering one or moreinstruments that are redeemable for goods, services, experiences and/orthe like. In some examples, the promotion and marketing service may takethe form of a redemption authority, a payment processor, a rewardsprovider, an entity in a financial network, a promoter, an agent and/orthe like. As such, the service is, in some example embodiments,configured to present one or more promotions via one or moreimpressions, accept payments for promotions from consumers, issueinstruments upon acceptance of an offer, participate in redemption,generate rewards, provide a point of sale device or service, issuepayments to providers and/or or otherwise participate in the exchange ofgoods, services or experiences for currency, value and/or the like.

As used herein, the term “provider” may include, but is not limited to,merchant, a business owner, consigner, shopkeeper, tradesperson, vender,operator, entrepreneur, agent, dealer, organization or the like that isin the business of a providing a good, service or experience to aconsumer, facilitating the provision of a good, service or experience toa consumer and/or otherwise operating in the stream of commerce. Oneexample a provider may be a running company that sells attire for use bya person who runs or participates in athletic activities.

As used herein, the term “consumer” may include, but is not limited to,a client, customer, purchaser, shopper, user, or the like, who may be inthe position to or does exchange value for one or more vouchers underthe terms defined by one or promotions. For example, and using theaforementioned running company as the example provider, a consumer maybe an individual who is interested in purchasing running shoes.

As used herein, the term “promotion” may include, but is not limited to,any type of offered, presented or otherwise indicated reward, discount,coupon, credit, deal, incentive, discount, media or the like that isindicative of a promotional value or the like that upon purchase oracceptance results in the issuance of an instrument that may be usedtoward at least a portion of the purchase of particular goods, servicesand/or experiences defined by the promotion. An example promotion, usingthe aforementioned running company as the example provider, is $25 for$50 toward running shoes. In some examples, the promotion defines anaccepted value (e.g., a cost to purchase the promotion), a promotionalvalue (e.g., the value of the resultant instrument beyond the acceptedvalue), a residual value (e.g., the value upon return or upon expiry ofone or more redemption parameters), one or more redemptions parametersand/or the like. Using the running company promotion as an example, theaccepted value is $25 and the promotional value is $50. In this example,the residual value may be equal to the accepted value.

As used herein, the term “impression” may include a communication, adisplay, or other perceived indication, such as a flyer, print media,e-mail, text message, application alert, mobile applications, other typeof electronic interface or distribution channel and/or the like, of oneor more promotions. For example, and using the aforementioned runningcompany as the example provider, an e-mail communication sent toconsumers that indicates the availability of a promotion of $25 for $50toward running shoes.

A “consumer” may be identified by one or more profiles, or sub-profiles,where each profile or sub-profile includes one or more consumerattribute that describes the consumer. Consumer attributes may include,but are not limited to, the consumer's name, consumer's age, consumer'slocation (e.g., “home”, “work”, or other visited places such as futurevacation locations, cities that friends and/or family live in locations,business trip locations and the like), consumer's gender, consumer'stenure using the promotion system, consumer's email domain, consumer'sIP address, consumer's occupation, consumer's educational background,consumer's previously accepted and/or rejected promotion programofferings, consumer's gender and the like. The consumer attributes maybe inputted into the consumer's profile by the consumer, or collected bycomponents within the promotion system 100 and inputted into theconsumer's profile.

Overview

A method, apparatus, and computer program product are provided inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention in orderto obfuscate email addresses in correspondence between a sender andrecipient. In some embodiments, the obfuscation of the email addressesis associated with facilitating a transaction occurring between thesender, recipient, and/or one or more intermediary parties (e.g.,providers, promotion and marketing service, etc.).

Using email to correspond with providers, consumers, other recipientsmay allow the sender's email address to be acquired or harvested forunwanted communications. Many types of software exist to automaticallycollect email addresses for bulk harvesting. Such collected emailaddresses may then be used in manner that is inconsistent with thewishes of the sender (e.g., bulk advertising, spamming, phishing, etc.).

Some systems may create a single use email obfuscation by creating aproxy email relay, but if the recipient responds, any response form thesender back to the recipient would not be obfuscated. Other systems mayallow for masking of emails from one party, but not the other, byobfuscating email senders upon request. The recipient email address isnot obfuscated and may thus be used by the sender for any purpose.

Various embodiments of the present invention are configured to obfuscateboth sender and recipient email addresses. In particular, suchembodiments are configured to assign a first transaction address to asender and a second transaction address to a recipient. Preferably, inone embodiment, the first transaction address and the second transactionaddress are valid or recognized by the system in connection with onlyone transaction as described in greater detail below. In anotherembodiment, the first transaction address and the second transactionaddress are valid or recognized by the system only for a predeterminedperiod of time.

Obfuscated Email Address Data Flow Path

FIG. 1 illustrates a data flow path for obfuscating email addresses inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention. Data maybe transmitted, received, and/or manipulated by sender 10, a host 12, ora recipient 14. The numbering of data transmissions and manipulations inFIG. 1 is consistent with the block numbering of the process forobfuscating email addresses in FIG. 5.

A sender 10 may be a consumer communicating with another consumer, aconsumer communicating with a provider, or a provider communicating witha consumer. For example, the consumer may listen to or view anadvertisement for a promotion presented via the Internet, radio,television, mail, over a mobile device application, in person, or thelike and desire more information or commence a transaction to procurethe promotion. In another example, a consumer may read a review by aconsumer and desire further information about the transaction or thepromotion. In still another example, a consumer may wish to solicitquotes, bids, or information from one or more providers (e.g.,merchants). In each case, a sender 10 may be motivated to send an emailto a recipient 14.

Senders 10 and recipients 14 (e.g., consumers and/or providers) maysubscribe to or otherwise identify themselves to a host 12 throughregistration, or other information gathering process. In someembodiments, the host 12 may be operated by a promotion and marketingservice or other third party intermediary. The senders 10 and recipients14 may enter information such as name, address, phone number, emailaddress, preferences, services or goods offered, or the like. Suchinformation may be stored at the host 14 in the form of a user profile.

Once the senders 10 and recipients 14 are registered with the host 12,they may be assigned an identifier (e.g., a unique ID, code, etc.) thatmay be stored with other information to an appropriate user profile. Insome embodiments, the identifier may be an email address dedicated forhost 12 to sender 10/recipient 14 communications. For example, if thehost 12 is a promotion and marketing service such as Groupon, Inc., thehost 12 may pair a unique ID associated with a sender/recipient with adomain associated with a host 12 to form an identifier in the form of anemail address (e.g., consumer1234@groupon.com orprovider4567@groupon.com, etc.). Identifiers of this type may be used bythe host 12 to facilitate host 12 to sender 10/recipient 14communications.

As will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art in view of thisdisclosure, user profiles that are accessible by the host 12 maycomprise consumer information, provider information, consumeridentifiers, provider identifiers, group provider identifiers (e.g.,identifiers associated with a group of providers such as a chain ofmerchants). Such information may be used by the host 12 to facilitatesender 10 to recipient 14 and host 12 to sender 10/recipient 14communications as herein described.

For illustration and clarity purposes, the foregoing descriptionproceeds by referring to a particular type of sender 10, a consumer, anda particular type of recipient, a provider (e.g., merchant). Inparticular, the foregoing description describes an example embodimentwherein a consumer communicates through a host to a provider in order toobtain additional information to support the purchase of a good offeredby the provider. However, as will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art, various embodiments of the present invention are not limitedto consumer to provider communications and may be applied to numerouscommunication pathways including, without limitation, consumer toconsumer, provider to consumer, provider to provider, and the like.

In some embodiments, a sender 10 initiates communication with arecipient 14 by transmitting a correspondence request indication 502 tothe host 12. For example, in the illustrated embodiment, a consumerviewing an impression (e.g., a web based or mobile application basedadvertisement/product description) associated with a good (e.g., a newtelevision) offered by a provider via a promotion and marketing servicemay desire more information concerning the good (e.g., how many HDMIinput ports does the television have?) before purchasing the good. Theconsumer may, for example, click or select an “ask a question” linkpresented by a website or mobile application interface proximate theimpression. Clicking such a link may cause a correspondence requestindication to be sent to host 12 as shown in FIG. 1.

In other embodiments, a correspondence request indication may betriggered by the sender 10 in a variety of other ways. For example, insome embodiments, the correspondence request indication may be initiatedby a sender submitting a webform, or using a predetermined email addressin the recipient field of an email in a local message user agent (MUA),such as Microsoft Outlook®, or an internet based MUA, such as Gmail®. Inother examples, a correspondence request indication may be triggered byinitiating a purchase (e.g. selecting a buy link or button, or a submitpayment link or button), requesting an appointment or reservation,initiating or responding to a comment or review on a website ordiscussion forum, or the like.

The host 12 may receive the correspondence request indication (504),which may include, without limitation, the sender email address, arecipient identifier, a recipient group identifier, or the like. Thehost 12 may generate and assign a first transaction address to thesender and a second transaction address to a recipient 14. The host 12may generate the transaction addresses based on the sender emailaddress, the recipient email address, a sender and/or recipientidentifier, recipient group identifier, a transaction identifier, a dateand/or time identifier, an account identifier, or the like. In someinstances, the transaction addresses may be derived from thecorrespondence request indication. For example, a timestamp associatedwith the correspondence request indication may be used to encodesender/or recipient information.

Returning to the depicted embodiment, the host 12 may generate andassign the following transaction addresses:

first transaction address: 4868985506@hostcompany.com

second transaction address: 212700048@hostcompany.com

Each transaction address includes a domain (hostcompany.com) associatedwith the company (e.g., promotion and marketing service) that operateshost 12. The local part of the transaction addresses (i.e., 4868985506and 212700048 respectively) were determined by using a transactionidentifier to hash respective identifiers associated with the consumerand the provider. In particular, host 12 assigned transaction number45683 (i.e., transaction identifier) to correspondence requestindication 502 and then multiplied this transaction number by a senderidentifier (e.g., consumer account number 106582) to obtain the localpart of the first transaction address (i.e., 4868985506). Similarly,host 12 multiplied the transaction number 45683 by a recipientidentifier (e.g., provider number 4656) to obtain the local part of thesecond transaction address (i.e., 212700048).

In some example embodiments, the host 12 may generate the transactionaddresses by encoding sender and/or recipient email addresses and atleast one of the sender and/or recipient identifier, recipient groupidentifier, a transaction identifier, a date and/or time identifier, anaccount identifier, or the like. In an example the encoding is a hashingfunction of the respective email address and identifier. For example,the local portion of the email address may be translated and added tothe identifier as a numeric value. One such translation may be numericsubstitution of non-numeric characters based on alphabetic sequence,e.g. a=1, b=2, c=3, etc., for example “consumer1234” may be translatedto 315141921135181234. One skilled in the art would appreciate that thehashing function may be performed by other mathematical operations, suchas subtraction, multiplication, division, or the like or by more complexmethods.f(x)=sender address identifier+identifier(x)f(x)=recipient address identifer+identifier(x)

Using the above equation, the example sender address identifier (e.g.consumer1234=315141921135181234 may be added to the transactionidentifier (e.g. 45683) resulting in a transaction address local portionof 315141921135226917. The local portion may be appended to the hostdomain to result in a first transactional address315141921135226917@hostcompany.com. Continuing the example,provider4567@groupon.com may be hashed as discussed resulting in asecond transaction address of 116181522945230250@hostcompany.com.

In an example embodiment, the encoding may be based on a cryptographichash function utilizing the alphanumeric representations of thetransaction and user (e.g. consumer or merchant identifiers, such assecure hash algorithm 1 (SHA1). The cryptologic has function may hashstringified representations of the data structure containing thealphanumeric identifiers. The stringified representation may be thebinary language for the transaction or user identifier converted toalphanumeric text for the hashing process. The resulting stringifiedhashed representation may be utilized as the local portion of thetransactional address.

Encoding the email address identifier and respective second identifierby hashing is illustrated as an example, it would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art, that any encoding method which obfuscates theemail identifier of the sender and recipient could be used, such assubstitution, or more complex encoding processes.

The host 12 may assign a transactional address to the sender 10 and atransactional address to the recipient 14. The host 12 may identifysubsequent messages based on the sender and/or recipient transactionaladdress or identifiers.

The transactional addresses may be assigned for a transaction periodsuch as a single transaction, transaction group, or the like. Thetransaction addresses may be valid for the transaction period. In anexample, the transaction addresses may be assigned for the duration of atransaction, such as from the request or purchase of the good, service,or promotion, until redemption. In this example, the transaction periodmay be terminated in response to the completion of the transaction.

In an example embodiment the transactional addresses may be assigned andvalid for a time period associated with the transaction, for example aperiod before and after the transaction, or in an instance in which thetransaction would not have a natural expiration such as completion of apurchase or participation in a purchased event. In an example, thetransaction addresses are assigned for a predetermined period after theredemption or competition of the transaction to allow for feedback,inspections, questions about the product or service, or the like. In anexample in which a consumer or provider is requesting information abouta review, the transaction addresses may be assigned to the transactionof information for a predetermined period, such as one week, one month,or any other period of time.

In an example embodiment, the sender 10 and/or the recipient 14 mayextend the transaction period, thus extending the validity of thetransaction addresses by contacting the host 12. For example, theconsumer or provider may desire to extend the transaction periodassociated with the transaction addresses to resolve issues arising fromthe transaction, conduct a related transaction, or the like.

The host 12 may receive a message from the sender 10 addressed to therecipient 14 (506). The message may be received contemporaneously withthe correspondence request indication (502) or may be a subsequentmessage. The host 12 may identify a sender or receiver transactionaladdress associated with the message. For example, the sender may bereplying to a message received using the transaction address of therecipient. In another example in which the message is receivecontemporaneously with the correspondence request indication, the hostmay identify the sender or recipient transaction address as a portion ofthe assignment of the first and second transaction addresses.

The host 12 may associate the message with the transaction address ofthe sender. The host 12 may identify the sender transactional addressusing the recipient transactional address, transaction identifier,sender email address, sender identifier, or the like. The sendertransactional address may be retrieved from the subscriber managementdatabase or other data storage. The host 12 may associate the messagewith the sender transactional address by entering or substitution of thesender transactional address into the sender field of the message. Forexample, the sender address consumer1234@groupon.com may be substitutedwith 315141921135226917@hostcompany.com.

The host 12 may retrieve identify and retrieve the recipient emailaddress based on transaction identifier, sender email address, senderidentifier, recipient transactional address, recipient identifier, orthe like. In an instance in which the message is addressed to therecipient using the second transactional address assigned to therecipient, the host 12 may enter or substitute the recipient addressinto the recipient field of the message.

For example in an instance in which a consumer sends a message fromtheir personal email application, the consumer may enter or cause to beentered the transactional address or recipient identifier of therecipient in the recipient field (e.g.116181522945230250@hostcompany.com.) The host 12 may identify thesender's email address (e.g. consumer1234@groupon.com) and associatedtransactional address (e.g. 315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) andsubstitute the sender's email address with the sender's transactionaladdress. The host 12 may identify the transactional address andassociated recipient's email address and substitute the recipienttransactional address (e.g. 116181522945230250@hostcompany.com) with therecipient's email address (e.g. provider4567@groupon.com). Therefore,allowing the recipient to receive the message at their respective emailapplication and maintain the anonymity of the sender and sender emailaddress, respective to the recipient and the anonymity of the recipientand recipient email address, respective to the sender.

In an example embodiment in which the sender sends the message using a“ask a question” link associated with webform, the sender address fieldmay be filled by the first transactional address and the recipientaddress identified and entered in to the recipient address field of themessage by the host 12.

The host 12 may transmit the message from the sender to the recipientusing the transactional address of the sender (e.g.315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) and email address (e.g.provider4567@groupon.com) of the recipient (510). The host 12 maytransmit the message to the recipient using the email addresses asdescribed above.

The recipient 14 may respond to the sender by composing a message inwhich the sender's transactional address or sender identifier is used inthe recipient field. For example, the recipient may compose a replymessage stating that “The HDTV has four HDMI ports.”, in response to themessage from the sender. In an instance in which the recipient isreplying the message application may fill the recipient and senderfields based on the message received from the sender. For example, thesender field may be the recipient address (e.g.provider4567@groupon.com) and the recipient field may be the sendertransactional address (e.g. 315141921135226917@hostcompany.com). Thehost 12 may receive the message from the recipient 14 to the sender 10(512).

The host 12 may associate the message from the recipient with thetransactional address associated with the sender 10 (514). As discussedabove, the host 12 may identify the transactional address and emailaddress of the sender 10 and recipient 14 respectively. The host 12 maysubstitute the email address (e.g. provider4567@groupon.com) of therecipient 14 with the transactional address (e.g.3818916456@hostcompany.com) associated with the recipient. The host 12may also substitute the transactional address (e.g.315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) of the sender 10 with the sender'semail address (e.g. consumer1234@groupon.com) retrieved from a memory,such as a subscriber management database.

The host 12 may transmit the message from the recipient 14 to the sender(516) using the transactional addresses and email addresses as describedabove.

In an example embodiment, the correspondence request indication may begenerated in response to the selection of a “purchase” or “buy” linkpresented by a website or mobile application interface proximate theimpression. The correspondence request indication may be sent to thehost 12 as described above.

The obfuscation of email addresses in both directions of communicationsallows for the email addresses to be used for the course of thetransaction without risk of loss of privacy to the email accountholders. Further, the use of the transactional addresses creates adistinguishable communication chains associated with the transaction.

Example Apparatus

The host 12 may be embodied by an apparatus, such as apparatus 200 shownin FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the apparatus 200 may include aprocessor 202, a memory 204, a user interface 206, a communicationsmodule 208, and a message module 205, and may be configured to executethe operations described below. In some embodiments, the processor 202(and/or co-processor or any other processing circuitry assisting orotherwise associated with the processor) may be in communication withthe memory 204 via a bus for passing information among components of theapparatus. The memory 204 may be non-transitory and may include, forexample, one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories. In otherwords, for example, the memory may be an electronic storage device(e.g., a computer readable storage medium). The memory may be configuredto store information, data, content, applications, instructions, or thelike, for enabling the apparatus to carry out various functions inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

The processor 202 may be embodied in a number of different ways and may,for example include one or more processing devices configured to performindependently. Additionally or alternatively, the processor may includeone or more processors configured in tandem via a bus to enableindependent execution of instructions, pipelining, and/ormultithreading.

In an example embodiment, the processor 202 may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory 204 or otherwise accessible to theprocessor. Alternatively or additionally, the processor may beconfigured to execute hard-coded functionality. As such, whetherconfigured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof,the processor 202 may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied incircuitry) capable of performing operations according to an embodimentof the present invention while configured accordingly. Alternatively, asanother example, when the processor 202 is embodied as an executor ofsoftware instructions, the instructions may specifically configure theprocessor 202 to perform the algorithms and/or operations describedherein when the instructions are executed.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 200 may include a user interface 206that may, in turn, be in communication with processor 202 to provideoutput to the user and, in some embodiments, to receive an indication ofa user input. As such, the user interface 206 may include a display andmay comprise a web user interface, a mobile application, a clientdevice, a kiosk, or the like. In some embodiments, the user interface306 may also include a keyboard, a mouse, a joystick, a touch screen,touch areas, soft keys, a microphone, a speaker, or other input/outputmechanisms. The processor 202, or user interface circuitry comprisingthe processor 202, may be configured to control one or more functions ofone or more user interface elements through computer programinstructions (e.g., software and/or firmware) stored on a memoryaccessible to the processor (e.g., memory 204, and/or the like).

Meanwhile, the communications module 208 may be any means such as adevice or circuitry embodied in either hardware or a combination ofhardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit datafrom/to a network and/or any other device or module in communicationwith the apparatus 200. In this regard, the communication interface mayinclude, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supportinghardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wirelesscommunication network. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationinterface may include the circuitry for interacting with the antenna(s)to cause transmission of signals via the antenna(s) or to handle receiptof signals received via the antenna(s). In some environments, thecommunication interface may additionally or alternatively support wiredcommunication. As such, for example, the communication interface mayinclude a communication modem and/or other hardware/software forsupporting communication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL),universal serial bus (USB), or other mechanisms. The message module 205may be configured to cause the processor 202 to transmit a message froma sender to a recipient using transactional addresses. In an exampleembodiment, the message module 205 may receive a correspondence requestindication; assign a first transaction address to a sender and a secondtransaction address to a recipient; receive a message from the sender;associate the message from the sender with the second transactionaddress; and cause a transmission of the message from the sender to therecipient using the second transaction address. In an example, themessage module 205 may also receive a message from the recipient;associate the message from the recipient with the first transactionaladdress; and causing a transmission of the message from the recipient tothe sender using the first transaction address. In yet anotherembodiment, the message from the sender may be associated with thesecond transaction address, the message module 205 may associate themessage with the recipient address; and the transmission of the messagefrom the sender to the recipient further comprises using the recipientaddress. In still another example, the recipient message may beassociated with the first transaction address, the message module 205may associate the recipient message with the sender address; and thetransmission of the recipient message to the sender further comprisesusing the sender address.

Example Data Flow from a Message Application to the Host

Referring now to FIG. 3, the data flows from a sender 10 or recipient 14message application to the host 12 are illustrated. The messageapplication may be a MUA or a webform. The following illustration ismade from the sender perspective; however one skilled in that art wouldunderstand that the process may be performed similarly for the recipientperspective. The sender may send information to the host 12 to identifythe sender and their associated email address, such as an email addressor a consumer/provider identifier, or the like. In some embodiments thesender provides only contact information such as an email identifier(local portion), domain, and the version of the message application. Thelocal portion, domain, and version may be derived from the transmissionof an email.

In another example, the sender may provider further information such asname, age, phone number, alternate email addresses, preferences,relationship status, or the like. The additional information may bederived from a subscription to a service, creation of an online accountor user profile as discussed in FIG. 1, or the like.

The host 12 may use the sender email address local portion, domain, andapplication version in the generation of transaction addresses asdiscussed in FIG. 1. Further, the host may store the sender emailaddress local portion, domain, application version or the like in amemory, such as a subscription management database, and may associatethe information with a user profile.

The sender 10 or recipient 14 message application may transmit messagesto the host 12 for transmission to the respective recipient as describedin FIG. 1. The messages may be received in conjunction with acorrespondence request indication or be preceded by a correspondencerequest indication as discussed in FIG. 1.

Example Data Flow from a Sender Message Application to a RecipientMessage Application

FIG. 4 illustrates example data flow paths from a sender messageapplication to a recipient message application. The sender 10 messageapplication may transmit a message to the host 12. The message mayinclude a message application identifier, message context parameters,the sender's email address, including sender email identifier, themessage content, or the like.

The host 12 may receive the message and associate the transactionaddress associated with the sender with the message. The host 12 maysubstitute the sender's email address with the transaction address, asdiscussed in FIG. 1. Additionally, in an instance in which the messageapplication has addressed the message to a recipient identifier orpredetermined email address, the host 12 may associate the recipientidentifier or predetermined email address with a transaction addressassociated with the recipient. The message may then be transmitted bythe host 12 using the transaction address associated with the sender andthe transaction address associated with the recipient. In an exampleembodiment the host 12 may transmit a copy of the obfuscated email tothe sender for the purposes of confirmation of the message and/orobfuscation.

In an example embodiment the host 12 may be separate hosts for thesending and receiving of messages, utilizing common transaction addressdata. The message may be relayed through one or more message transferagents (MTAs) before or after the respective hosts 12. The MTA maytransmit the message to the host 12. The host 12 may receive the messagefrom the MTA and identify the recipient based on the recipienttransaction address. The host 12 may identify the recipient emailaddress and recipient message application and associate the message withthe recipient email address by substitution or entry of the recipientaddress in the recipient field of the message. The host 12 may alsoformat the message for compatibility with the recipient messageapplication.

The host 12 may send the message to the recipient using the recipient'saddress. In some embodiments, the host 12 may send a confirmation ofdelivery to the sender 10 associated with the transmission of themessage to the recipient. Although FIG. 4 illustrates the data flow fromthe sender to a receiver, it would be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the process may be used to transmit a message from therecipient to the sender as discussed in FIGS. 1 and 5.

Example Process for Email Address Obfuscation

Referring now to FIG. 5, the operations performed, such as by theapparatus 200 of FIG. 2, for obfuscation of email addresses areillustrated. As shown in block 502 of FIG. 5, the apparatus may includemeans, such as a message module 205, processor 202, communicationsinterface 206, or the like, for receiving a correspondence requestindication. A correspondence request indication may be a first message,as discussed below in block 506, a subscription to an online service, arequest for information from a webform or internet link, or the like.The correspondence request indication may be initiated by submitting awebform, or using a predetermined email address in the recipient fieldof an email in a local message user agent (MUA), such as MicrosoftOutlook®, or an internet based MUA, such as Gmail®. In other examples, acorrespondence request indication may be triggered by initiating apurchase (e.g. selecting a buy link or button, or a submit payment linkor button), requesting an appointment or reservation, initiating orresponding to a comment or review on a website or discussion forum, orthe like.

The correspondence request indication may include the email addressidentifier, domain and application version of the sender 10, theprovider identifier, consumer identifier, consumer group identifier,provider group identifier, transaction identifier, date/time identifieror the like.

As shown in block 504 of FIG. 5, the apparatus 200 may include means,such as a message module 205, a processor 202, or the like for assigninga first transaction address to the sender and a second transactionaddress to the recipient. The processor 202 may generate the transactionaddresses by encoding the email addresses of the sender and or recipientwith at least one of a sender and/or recipient identifier, recipientgroup identifier, a transaction identifier, a date and/or timeidentifier, an account identifier, or the like. In some instances theidentifiers and email addresses may be derived from the correspondencerequest indication as an entered information elements. In anotherembodiment the processor 202 may retrieve at least a portion of theinformation or addresses from a memory 204, such as a subscribermanagement database based on a recipient or sender identifier orpredetermined email address.

In an example embodiment, the host may generate the transactionaddresses by encoding the sender and/or recipient email address and atleast one of the sender and/or recipient identifier, recipient groupidentifier, a transaction identifier, a date and/or time identifier, anaccount identifier, or the like.

For example, the processor 202 may generate and assign the followingtransaction addresses:

first transaction address: 4868985506@hostcompany.com

second transaction address: 212700048@hostcompany.com

Each transaction address includes a domain (hostcompany.com) associatedwith the company (e.g., promotion and marketing service) that operateshost 12. The local part of the transaction addresses (i.e., 4868985506and 212700048 respectively) were determined by using a transactionidentifier to hash respective identifiers associated with the consumerand the provider. In particular, processor 202 assigned transactionnumber 45683 (i.e., transaction identifier) to correspondence requestindication 502 and then multiplied this transaction number by a senderidentifier (e.g., consumer account number 106582) to obtain the localpart of the first transaction address (i.e., 4868985506). Similarly,processor 202 multiplied the transaction number 45683 by a recipientidentifier (e.g., provider number 4656) to obtain the local part of thesecond transaction address (i.e., 212700048).

In an example the encoding is a hashing function of the respective emailaddress and identifier. For example, the local portion of the emailaddress may be translated and added to the identifier as a numericvalue. One such translation may be numeric substitution of non-numericcharacters based on alphabetic sequence, e.g. a=1, b=2, c=3, etc., forexample “consumer1234” may be translated to 315141921135181234. Oneskilled in the art would appreciate that the hashing function may beperformed by other mathematical operations, such as subtraction,multiplication, division, or the like or by more complex methods.f(x)=sender address identifier+identifier(x)f(x)=recipient address identifer+identifier(x)

Using the above equation, the example sender address identifier (e.g.consumer1234=315141921135181234 may be added to the transactionidentifier (e.g. 45683) resulting in a transaction address local portionof 315141921135226917. The local portion may be appended to the hostdomain to result in a first transactional address315141921135226917@hostcompany.com. Continuing the example,provider4567@groupon.com may be hashed as discussed resulting in asecond transaction address of 116181522945230250@hostcompany.com.

In an example embodiment, the encoding may be based on a cryptographichash function utilizing the alphanumeric representations of thetransaction and user (e.g. consumer or merchant identifiers, such assecure hash algorithm 1 (SHA1). The cryptologic has function may hashstringified representations of the data structure containing thealphanumeric identifiers. The stringified representation may be thebinary language for the transaction or user identifier converted toalphanumeric text for the hashing process. The resulting stringifiedhashed representation may be utilized as the local portion of thetransactional address.

Encoding the email address identifier and respective second identifierby hashing is illustrated as an example, it would be apparent to one ofordinary skill in the art, that any encoding method which obfuscates theemail identifier of the sender and recipient could be used, such assubstitution, more complex encoding processes, or the like.

The processor 202 may assign a first transactional address to the sender10 and a second transactional address to the recipient 14. The processor202 may identify subsequent messages based on the sender and/orrecipient transactional address and/or sender/recipient identifiers, ortransaction identifiers.

In an embodiment in which a provider group identifier has beenidentified in the correspondence request indication recipient, theprocessor 202 may generate a transactional address for each of theperspective recipients when the transactional address for the sender isgenerated and assigned, or generate the respective recipient transactionaddresses at the first response for each respective provider/recipient.For example, if the consumer requests information regarding thesolicitation of quotes to a provider group, the consumer sender'stransactional address may be generated and assigned. In an instance inwhich a provider responds to the message, a transactional address willbe generated and assigned to the provider when the response is receivedby the processor 202.

In an example embodiment the transactional addresses may be assigned andvalid for a time period associated with the transaction, for example aperiod before and after the transaction, or in an instance in which thetransaction would not have a natural expiration such as completion of apurchase or participation in a purchased event. In another example, thetransaction addresses are assigned for a predetermined period after theredemption or competition of the transaction to allow for feedback,inspections, questions about the product or service, or the like. In anexample in which a consumer or provider is requesting information abouta review, the transaction addresses may be assigned to the transactionof information for a predetermined period, such as one week, one month,or any other period of time. In yet another example the sender 10 and/orthe recipient 14 may extend the transaction period, thus extending thevalidity of the transaction addresses by contacting the host 12. Theconsumer or provider may desire to extend the transaction periodassociated with the transaction addresses to resolve issues arising fromthe transaction, conduct a related transaction, or the like.

As shown in block 506 of FIG. 5, the apparatus 200 may include means,such as a message module 205, a processor 202, a communications module206, or the like for receiving a message from the sender 10. The sender10 may send the message to the apparatus 200 from a webform in aninternet browser or a MUA. The message may include the sender emailidentifier, domain, and application identifier, context parameters,message content, recipient identifier, such as transaction address,predetermined email address or identifier, or the like. In someembodiments the message is received contemporaneously with thecorrespondence request 502.

As shown in block 508 of FIG. 5, the apparatus 200 may include means,such as a message module, a processor 202, or the like to associate themessage with the sender or first transaction address. The processor 202may use the recipient identifier, predetermined email address, senderemail address, sender identifier, or the like to identify thetransaction address associated with the sender. The processor 202 mayassociate the message with the sender or first transactional address, bysubstituting or entering the transactional address into the sender fieldof the message. For example, the sender address consumer1234@groupon.commay be substituted with 315141921135226917@hostcompany.com.

In an example embodiment, the processor 202 may also identify andretrieve the recipient address based on transaction identifier, senderemail address, sender identifier, recipient transactional address,recipient identifier, or the like. In an instance in which the messageis addressed to the recipient using the second transactional addressassigned to the recipient, the processor 202 may enter or substitute therecipient address into the recipient field of the message.

For example in an instance in which a consumer sends a message fromtheir personal email application, the consumer may enter or cause to beentered the transactional address or recipient identifier of therecipient in the recipient field (e.g.116181522945230250@hostcompany.com. The processor 12 may identify thesender's email address (e.g. consumer1234@groupon.com) and associatedtransactional address (e.g. 315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) andsubstitute the sender's email address with the sender's transactionaladdress. The processor 202 may identify the transactional address andassociated recipient's email address and substitute the recipienttransactional address (e.g. 116181522945230250@hostcompany.com) with therecipient's email address (e.g. provider4567@groupon.com).

As shown if block 510 of FIG. 5, the apparatus 200 may include means,such as a message module 205, a processor 202, a communicationsinterface 206, or the like for causing the transmission of the messageusing the first transactional address. The processor may transmit themessage to a MTA or to the MUA using the recipient email and use thefirst transactional address for the sender. The processor 202 maytransmit the message from the sender to the recipient using thetransactional address of the sender (e.g.315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) and email address (e.g.provider4567@groupon.com) of the recipient.

As shown in block 512 of FIG. 5, the apparatus 200 may include means,such as a message module 205, a processor 202, a communications module206, or the like for receiving a message from a recipient 14. Therecipient may send a message from a MUA or webform in an internetbrowser. The message may include the recipient email identifier, domain,and application identifier, context parameters, message content, senderidentifier, sender transaction address, or the like.

As shown if block 514 the apparatus 200 may include means, such as amessage module 205, a processor 202, or the like for associating themessage from the recipient with the recipient, or second, transactionaddress. The processor 202 may identify the transaction addressassociated with the recipient based on the recipient email address,recipient identifier, transaction identifier, sender, or first,transaction address, or the like. The processor 202 may associate themessage with the second transaction address by entering or substitutingthe transaction address into the sender field of the message.

In an embodiment, in which the sender field is not populated with thesender or first transaction address, for example a sender identifier isentered; the processor 202 may associate the message with the firsttransaction address. The processor 202 may associate the message withthe first transaction address by entering or substitution of the firsttransaction address into the recipient field for transmission tosubsequent MTAs and/or the sender MUA.

For example, the processor 202 may substitute the email address (e.g.provider4567@groupon.com) of the recipient 14 with the transactionaladdress (e.g. 3818916456@hostcompany.com) associated with the recipient.The processor 202 may also substitute the transactional address (e.g.315141921135226917@hostcompany.com) of the sender 10 with the sender'semail address (e.g. consumer1234@groupon.com) retrieved from a memory,such as a subscriber management database. As shown in block 516 of FIG.5, the apparatus 200 may have means, such as a message module 205,processor 202, communications module 206, or the like for causing thetransmission of the message from the recipient to the sender using thesecond transaction address. The processor 202 may transmit the messageto the sender email address (e.g. consumer1234@groupon.com) using therecipient/second transaction address (e.g. 3818916456@hostcompany.com)in the sender field of the message.

As will be appreciated, computer program code and/or other instructionsmay be loaded onto a computer, processor or other programmableapparatus's circuitry to produce a machine, such that execution of thecode on the machine by the computer, processor, or other circuitrycreates the means for implementing various functions, including thosedescribed herein.

As described above and as will be appreciated based on this disclosure,embodiments of the present invention may be configured as methods,mobile devices, backend network devices, and the like. Accordingly,embodiments may comprise various means including entirely of hardware ora combination of software and hardware. Furthermore, embodiments maytake the form of a computer program product on at least onecomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable programinstructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storage medium.Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, includingnon-transitory hard disks, CD-ROMs, flash memory, optical storagedevices, magnetic storage devices, or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above withreference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods,apparatuses, systems and computer program products. It will beunderstood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, respectively, can be implemented by various meansincluding computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the computer program product includes theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus create a means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage device that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablestorage device produce an article of manufacture includingcomputer-readable instructions for implementing the function discussedherein. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus, thereby producing a computer-implemented processsuch that the instructions executed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus cause performance of the steps and therebyimplement the functions discussed herein.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedcomputer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseembodiments of the invention pertain having the benefit of the teachingspresented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the inventionare not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and thatmodifications and other embodiments are intended to be included withinthe scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employedherein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and notfor purposes of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for facilitating electroniccorrespondence associated with a transaction between a sender and arecipient, the transaction beginning with a correspondence requestindication and ending with a transaction complete indication, the methodcomprising: receiving the correspondence request indication; assigning atransaction identifier to the correspondence request indication, whereinthe transaction identifier is associated with the transaction and validfor a transaction period; assigning a sender identifier to the senderand a recipient identifier to the recipient, wherein the senderidentifier and the recipient identifier are associated with thetransaction and valid for the transaction period; generating a firsttransaction address, wherein the first transaction address comprises afirst local part and a first domain part, wherein generating the firsttransaction address includes generating the first local part bymultiplying the transaction identifier by the sender identifier;generating a second transaction address, wherein the second transactionaddress comprises a second local part and a second domain part, whereingenerating the second transaction address includes generating the secondlocal part by multiplying the transaction identifier by the recipientidentifier; assigning the first transaction address to the sender andthe second transaction address to the recipient; receiving a messagefrom the sender; associating the message from the sender with the firsttransaction address; causing a transmission of the message to therecipient using the first transaction address, wherein the firsttransaction address and the second transaction address are associatedwith the transaction and valid for the transaction period; and receivingthe transaction complete indication, wherein the transaction period isterminated a predetermined time period following receipt of thetransaction complete indication.
 2. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising: receiving a recipient message from the recipient;associating the recipient message with the second transaction address;and causing a transmission of the recipient message to the sender usingthe second transaction address.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein therecipient message is associated with the first transaction address, themethod further comprising associating the recipient message with asender address, wherein causing the transmission of the recipientmessage to the sender further comprises using the sender address.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the message from the sender is associatedwith the second transaction address, the method further comprisingassociating the message from the sender with a recipient address,wherein causing the transmission of the message from the sender to therecipient further comprises using the recipient address.
 5. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: receiving a transaction periodadjustment indication; and adjusting the transaction period based on thetransaction period adjustment indication.
 6. An apparatus forfacilitating electronic correspondence associated with a transactionbetween a sender and a recipient, the transaction beginning with acorrespondence request indication and ending with a transaction completeindication, the apparatus comprising at least one processor and at leastone memory including computer program code, the at least one memory andcomputer program code configured to, with the processor, cause theapparatus to at least: receive the correspondence request indication;assign a transaction identifier to the correspondence requestindication, wherein the transaction identifier is associated with thetransaction and valid for a transaction period; assign a senderidentifier to the sender and a recipient identifier to the recipient,wherein the sender identifier and the recipient identifier areassociated with the transaction and valid for the transaction period;generate a first transaction address, wherein the first transactionaddress comprises a first local part and a first domain part, whereingenerating the first transaction address includes generating the firstlocal part by multiplying the transaction identifier by the senderidentifier; generate a second transaction address, wherein the secondtransaction address comprises a second local part and a second domainpart, wherein generating the second transaction address includesgenerating the second local part by multiplying the transactionidentifier by the recipient identifier; assign the first transactionaddress to the sender and the second transaction address to therecipient; receive a message from the sender; associate the message fromthe sender with the first transaction address; cause a transmission ofthe message to the recipient using the first transaction address,wherein the first transaction address and the second transaction addressare associated with the transaction and valid for the transactionperiod; and receiving the transaction complete indication, wherein thetransaction period is terminated a predetermined time period followingreceipt of the transaction complete indication.
 7. The apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the at least one memory and the computerprogram code are further configured to, with the processor, cause theapparatus to: receive a recipient message from the recipient; associatethe recipient message with the second transaction address; and cause atransmission of the recipient message to the sender using the secondtransaction address.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein therecipient message is associated with the first transaction address, theat least one memory and the computer program code being furtherconfigured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus to associate therecipient message with a sender address, wherein causing thetransmission of the recipient message to the sender further comprisesusing the sender address.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 6, whereinthe message from the sender is associated with the second transactionaddress, the at least one memory and the computer program code beingfurther configured to, with the processor, cause the apparatus toassociate the message from the sender with a recipient address, whereincausing the transmission of the message from the sender to the recipientfurther comprises using the recipient address.
 10. The apparatusaccording to claim 6, wherein the at least one memory and the computerprogram code are further configured to, with the processor, cause theapparatus to: receive a transaction period adjustment indication; andadjust the transaction period based on the transaction period adjustmentindication.
 11. A computer program product for facilitating electroniccorrespondence associated with a transaction between a sender and arecipient, the transaction beginning with a correspondence requestindication and ending with a transaction complete indication, thecomputer program product comprising at least one non-transitory computerreadable storage medium having computer executable code portions storedtherein, the computer-executable program code portions comprisingprogram code instructions configured to: receive the correspondencerequest indication; assign a transaction identifier to thecorrespondence request indication, wherein the transaction identifier isassociated with the transaction and valid for a transaction period;assign a sender identifier to the sender and a recipient identifier tothe recipient, wherein the sender identifier and the recipientidentifier are associated with the transaction and valid for thetransaction period; generate a first transaction address, wherein thefirst transaction address comprises a first local part and a firstdomain part, wherein generating the first transaction address includesgenerating the first local part by multiplying the transactionidentifier by the sender identifier; generate a second transactionaddress, wherein the second transaction address comprises a second localpart and a second domain part, wherein generating the second transactionaddress includes generating the second local part by multiplying thetransaction identifier by the recipient identifier; assign the firsttransaction address to the sender and the second transaction address tothe recipient; receive a message from the sender; associate the messagefrom the sender with the first transaction address; cause a transmissionof the message to the recipient using the first transaction address,wherein the first transaction address and the second transaction addressare associated with the transaction and valid for the transactionperiod; and receiving the transaction complete indication, wherein thetransaction period is terminated a predetermined time period followingreceipt of the transaction complete indication.
 12. The computer programproduct according to claim 11, wherein the computer-executable programcode portions further comprise program code instructions to: receive arecipient message from the recipient; associate the recipient messagewith the second transaction address; and cause a transmission of therecipient message to the sender using the second transaction address.13. The computer program product according to claim 12, wherein therecipient message is associated with the first transaction address, thecomputer-executable program code portions further comprising programcode instructions to associate the recipient message with a senderaddress, wherein causing the transmission of the recipient message tothe sender further comprises using the sender address.
 14. The computerprogram product according to claim 11, wherein the message from thesender is associated with the second transaction address, thecomputer-executable program code portions further comprising programcode instructions to associate the message from the sender with arecipient address, wherein causing the transmission of the message fromthe sender to the recipient further comprises using the recipientaddress.
 15. The computer program product according to claim 11, whereinthe computer-executable program code portions further comprise programcode instructions to: receive a transaction period adjustmentindication; and adjust the transaction period based on the transactionperiod adjustment indication.